Grandview Cemetery in Fort Collins (Larimer) is lush at present, like most of the Front Range. The recent rains are responsible, as they were for a true happening this evening. Soft soil in late summer often triggers mass emergence of the winged stages of ants (female queens and males). Such so-called "mating flights" are the way queens become fertilized and disperse to form new colonies. Today a very small reddish species was lifting off from the open areas of Grandview's northwest corner and ascending pretty much vertically. One here, one there, maybe ten visible in any one slow 360 scan. Considering the involved area of a couple acres (an acre is about a football field) and the period of the visit (over an hour), the number of individual ants aloft had to be considerable. The avian response was equally impressive: 15+ Common Nighthawks, 9 Chimney Swifts, at least 20 Barn Swallows, and 5 or do darner dragonflies. That's about 50 insectivores hawking for ants. I would estimate the least effective of the lot was getting about 20/minute. That computes to 1000/minute or 60,000 ants per hour for the whole gang. No wonder E.O. Wilson calls ants among the most, if not THE most. important organisms on Earth. They move a lot of soil, modify a lot of vegetation, and feed a lot of birds.
The tardy hummingbird nest in Section 8 will give up its babies any day. Tonight the young duo looked about ready to rock and roll. They are green above, white below, with peach coloring on their flanks. Two Sumo wrestlers in a bathtub. The Mom is looking anxious but seems to know the end of her difficult nestside chores are almost over. Almost over isn't the same as over. This evening she first hassled a Great Horned Owl sitting on a headstone perhaps 25 yards from the nest tree, then zoomed over to perch about 10 feet away from my location near the nest, threw me a couple minutes worth of "do I trust you" glances, quickly fed the babies, and zipped off for more food hunting. I'd love to know if she got some ants and bet she did.
[Anecdotal reports indicate the recent prairie rains have also stimulated emergence of the large "dog-day" cicadas (genus Tibicen) in local areas of the eastern plains. As these are standard fare for Mississippi Kites and opportunistic food for many other bird species, that's a good thing.]
Dave Leatherman
The tardy hummingbird nest in Section 8 will give up its babies any day. Tonight the young duo looked about ready to rock and roll. They are green above, white below, with peach coloring on their flanks. Two Sumo wrestlers in a bathtub. The Mom is looking anxious but seems to know the end of her difficult nestside chores are almost over. Almost over isn't the same as over. This evening she first hassled a Great Horned Owl sitting on a headstone perhaps 25 yards from the nest tree, then zoomed over to perch about 10 feet away from my location near the nest, threw me a couple minutes worth of "do I trust you" glances, quickly fed the babies, and zipped off for more food hunting. I'd love to know if she got some ants and bet she did.
[Anecdotal reports indicate the recent prairie rains have also stimulated emergence of the large "dog-day" cicadas (genus Tibicen) in local areas of the eastern plains. As these are standard fare for Mississippi Kites and opportunistic food for many other bird species, that's a good thing.]
Dave Leatherman
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